1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to golf club adjusting devices and in particular to golf club adjusting devices which measure the loft or lie angles of a golf club and permit the golf club to be adjusted accordingly.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
A pervasive problem in the golf industry is the accuracy and predictability of a golf club's performance, and in particular with respect to the loft and lie angles of a club. Although all clubs of a particular design are presumably manufactured according to the same guidelines and specifications, an individual club may not actually have lie or loft angles which meet manufacturer's specifications. Moreover, a golfer may want to reset a club's loft or lie angles in conformity with the golfer's swing. Hence, the measuring and adjustment of golf clubs has evolved into a science.
The prior art, in particular U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,431 to Muldoon teaches that to properly fit a golf club to an individual player, the club should be fitted from "a playing position." By way of background, the basic elements of a golf club include a club head, a shaft upwardly extending from the head and can also include a hosel connected to the club head for receiving the shaft. The club head further includes a face including a plurality of parallel score lines and a sole. The sole of some golf clubs, woods, for example can be curved. Muldoon teaches that a clamped golf club is rotated until the club head is in a plane horizontal to the ground with the score lines being parallel to the ground regardless of the sole radius; i.e. the club is clamped in a soled position. Further, Muldoon teaches that the shaft of the club must be in a plane vertical to the plane in which the club head lies. Both U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,431 and pending U.S. patent application No. 07/926,945 are incorporated by reference herein.
Unlike the prior art, the present invention teaches an apparatus for determining the loft or lie angles of a golf club wherein the golf club is held stationary at some predetermined angle with respect to the base. A measuring apparatus is brought into proximity with the golf club shaft so that loft or lie angles can be measured from the clamped club. Loft or lie angles can then be adjusted where necessary.
Both the loft and lie angles affect the path of the ball after it is struck by the club head. The lie angle determines whether the ball will travel left or right as it is launched. Loft angles, on the other hand, are the angles that a club face makes with the vertical shaft plane (or any plane parallel to the vertical shaft plane) when the sole of the club is parallel to the ground line. The club's loft and the lie angles affect the vertical trajectory of the ball which is further affected by the swing of the golfer; therefore, to optimize the height and distance that the ball travels, the lie and loft of the club should further be adjusted to the particular player's swing. Once the loft and lie angles of the club have been measured, the hosel of the club is bent to change either or both of these angles to some other desired angle which is better adapted for a particular player's swing or in conformity with manufacturer's specifications.